Nowadays it’s not enough for home cinema systems to simply sound great – they also have to look the part in order to blend in with your living room décor. That’s something LG has taken on board with the BH5320F, an incredibly stylish 2.1-channel Blu-ray system with a ‘floating’ design that will really turn heads.

But of course there’s much more to this system than just style. It’s equipped with a wide range of cutting-edge features, such as built-in web apps and network support, and naturally it plays 3D Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CDs and USB devices too.

DesignBut let’s get back to that delicious design. The main unit, which houses the Blu-ray player and 400W amplifier, is a thick rectangular block with an open section on the left-hand side. The black front panel is flat, with a panel of illuminated touch-sensitive controls embedded into it, while further right is a dot matrix display panel showing the selected input, elapsed time and other pertinent information. Around the edge is a silver frame that juxtaposes nicely with the black front panel, with a disc slot located discreetly on the right hand side.

The speakers mimic the main unit’s design, with the same blocky shape, silver frame and open section at the bottom. They’re fairly large but not imposing, with a black mesh on the front keeping them tidy and minimal. Placed together, the system looks stunning, a refreshing break from the black-box norm. Even the subwoofer gets in on the act, sporting the same black and silver colour scheme and a sumptuous glossy front panel. It’s compact too, which makes installation a cinch.

ConnectionsThe unconventional design of the main unit means connections aren’t as plentiful as a normal system, and they’re dotted around awkwardly on the back. On a sideways-facing panel is an HDMI 1.4 output (but no inputs), composite video out, two optical digital audio inputs and an Ethernet port, plus springclip speaker terminals and an input for the FM radio aerial. On the opposite site you’ll find a USB port, which supports flash drives, external HDDs and direct connection of Apple devices, and a 3.5mm minijack input for other types of MP3 player.